Kaffeeklastch, or a Chance Meeting at Hogsmeade
by D.L. SchizoAuthoress
Summary: Set during PoA, "The Forgotten People" AU. [implied slash]


"Kaffeeklatsch" or "A Chance Meeting at Hogsmeade"  
  
kaffeeklatsch- (n.) From German, "an informal social gathering, usu. for coffee and conversation"  
  
Lucius idily added a lump of sugar to his coffee--a strong, black Turkish blend--and decided to relax. After all, it was a clear February day, slightly overcast, no rain and thankfully no Ministry business. He was visiting Hogsmeade and no one had yet bothered him, either by slavishly kissing up or overt disdain and hate. And as a bonus, he'd rediscovered ths small coffeeshop--the Perk Up--on a side street where nobody could find him.  
  
The lighting was soft without being gloomy, the colors subdued without being somber. The rich, mellow aroma of ground coffee beans had a much better effect on atmosphere than the reek of alcohol. He had immediately preferred this place to the Three Broomsticks, and nothing had yet challenged that preference.  
  
The tiny bell tinkled a cascade of silvery notes as the door opened. Miss Burdock, the proprietress of the Perk Up, smiled welcomingly and sang out,  
  
"Hello, sir. May I get you something, or would you prefer to sit first?"  
  
Lucius looked up from his coffee mug in curiousity and felt his heart leap into his throat. Of all the people that could have walked in, it had to be the one person he both most and least wanted to see.  
  
Severus Snape answered coolly, "I'll find a seat, thank you."  
  
"Yes, when you're ready just call for Miss Burdock." The silver-haired woman smiled a bit wider and bobbed her head, clarifying, "That's myself, sir."  
  
Severus nodded. As his gaze settled on Lucius at the small corner table, his black eyes flared unreadably. He moved over casually, and Lucius carefully placed his mug back down.  
  
"Severus." Lucius stated formally, "Severus Snape."  
  
"May I?"  
  
In response, Lucius gracefully indicated the vacant seat across from him. Severus gave the slightest smile and sat.  
  
After a moment of silence, Severus murmured, "It's good to see you again, Luc. [1]"  
  
"Yes," Lucius managed. The use of his old nickname...it brought such memories with it, innocent-sounding though it was. He swallowed hard, attempting to soothe the sudden tightness of his throat. He replied, "It's nice to see you too, Sev."  
  
"I like it when you're not so formal...you seem, oh, more like a person, rather than a Ministry official." Severus remarked. Lucius would have sworn that his eyes glittered mischieviously as he said it. He leaned closer and noted, "You've a bit of sugar on your nose," just before reaching over to gently brush it off.  
  
"Thank you, Mummy." Lucius growled sarcastically.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry. Did you want to keep it there?" Severus teased. He crumbled a cube of lump sugar on a napkin and rubbed the white crystals onto his fingers, lifting his hand near Lucius's face.  
  
"Don't you dare." Lucius snapped, draining his mug. He looked over Severus's shoulder and called, "Miss Burdock...!"  
  
"Oh, do you have any suggestions as to what I should get?"  
  
"A lobotomy?" Lucius muttered with a wicked grin.  
  
Severus scowled, "What kind of coffee, you prat."  
  
"Hm..." Lucius answered straight-facedly, "Well, I don't know what sort you'd like."  
  
"Oh, there's never any simple conversation with you." Severus grumbled, "I suppose I'll have an Irish coffee."  
  
"Alcoholic."  
  
"I'm half-Russian and more than a quarter Irish, in case you forgot."  
  
Lucius chuckled. He turned to the elderly blue-clad witch and requested, "Another cup of my usual, ma'am, and an Irish coffee for my friend."  
  
"Mm-hmm..." Miss Burdock hummed, scribbling on her notepad. Her idigo eyes gleamed behind her pince-nez spectacles as she asked suggestively, "P'rhaps you'd like some biscotti?"[2]  
  
"Why not?" Lucius shrugged. Miss Burdock smiled brightly. "Thank you, ma'am."  
  
After she left, Lucius said softly, "Nobody's called me 'Luc' in ages, you know."  
  
The dark-eyed man seemed a bit taken aback. Quietly, he wondered, "Would you rather that I didn't?"  
  
"No." Lucius shook his head emphatically. But then, he sighed and whispered, "It just makes me remember...and I think...I think about things I don't want to, not really."  
  
"Such as?" Severus pressed.  
  
Absentmindedly toying with the stirring spoon, Lucius murmured, "Hogwarts. The Marauders. The Coven of Snakes..." His silver eyes flickered up to gaze at Severus for a moment, and he finished, "Us."  
  
"Is there an 'us'?" Severus asked softly. Without thinking of it, he reached over and tenderly stilled the agitation of the blond's hands by enfolding them in his own firm grip.  
  
Lucius's voice was barely above a whisper as he answered, "There was, once. When there was nothing but a rivalry between Houses to worry about."  
  
"When revenge was as simple as a prank on the Golden Gryffs." Severus said with a smile.  
  
The corners of Lucius's mouth curved upward, but his eyes remained sad. "I wish there still could be an us."  
  
"Well, then you wouldn't have your dragon." Severus replied mildly.  
  
"Mister Malfoy!" Miss Burdock's cheerful sing-song voice trilled, "Your order, sir."  
  
Severus released Lucius's hands as the old lady placed the tray on their table with a flourish. Miss Burdock busily set the two drinks and the small plateful of biscotti on the table, recovering the empty mug. Her inquisitive blue violet eyes had taken in the pair and their actions ever since Severus had sat down. As she turned to leave, with a rustle of blue linen robes, she winked knowingly at Severus. He successfully hid his smile by lifting the heavy glass to his mouth to drink.  
  
"You're right, as usual." Lucius admitted, adding sugar to his new mug of coffee. A genuine smile touched his face as he declared, "I wouldn't want that. Even if I have to deal with a mindless, soul-sucking leech of a woman who is addicted to social functions and obsessed with her appearance. [3]"  
  
Severus smirked. "You're so self-sacrificing!"  
  
"Like you would know."  
  
"Oh, you're suddenly holier-than-thou!" Severus mocked. He brushed a lock of his oily hair behind his ear and snapped, "You're not the only one who had to raise a teenager."  
  
Lucius grinned. "Sio and Gabe's little girl, right? What's her name?"[4]  
  
"Estrellia Cerise Snape-Malcolm."[5] Severus recited with a little laugh. "Siobhan always had a thing for long, elegant names. Everyone calls her 'Stella,' otherwise we'd be out of breath!"  
  
"She goes to Hogwarts?"  
  
"Fourth-year."  
  
Lucius sipped his coffee meditatively, finally wondering, "Isn't she the same age as Draco?"  
  
"Yes. But Albus, Gabe's brother Henri, and I felt that waiting until she was eleven to start her formal training would hold her back." Severus selected a hazelnut biscotti and nibbled delicately at it.  
  
"So you raised a genius."  
  
"Don't flatter."  
  
  
"It's not flattery. If your Stella got into Hogwarts a year early..."  
  
Obsidian eyes glittered strangely as Severus recited, "You're a 'spotted snake with double tongue,' Lucius. You always knew how to flatter somebody."  
  
"The Malfoy talent, Sev." Lucius drawled.  
  
"Hmph," was Severus's only reply. He suddenly became very interested in eating. Lucius grinned.  
  
Suddenly, he glanced at his watch and stood up. "I've got to go now if I want to have enough time to get ready for Narcissa's party tonight." Rolling his eyes melodramatically, Lucius mimicked, "So self-sacrificing!"  
  
"Indeed," Severus replied. [6] He stood as well, and they shook hands. "Be sure she doesn't leech out too much of your soul."  
  
Impulively, Lucius stroked the again-errant lock of hair from Severus's face. For a brief moment, neither spoke. And then, Lucius mumbled, "It was nice...to talk with you...Sev. Good-bye."  
  
"Good-bye."  
  
Lucius nodded his acknowledgement and moved swiftly away. He paused only to pay Miss Burdock a Galleon and three Sickles--which was a generous tip--and then he was gone, the bell on the door piercingly confirming his departure.  
  
With more than usual slowness, Severus finished his coffee and gathered up his parcels. Before he could get to the front counter, however, Miss Burdock intercepted him.   
  
"You don't have to pay. Lucius has already."  
  
"A while ago, he was 'Mister Malfoy' to you. Now he's Lucius?" Severus wondered, but not sarcastically. Miss Burdock smiled, pushing her spectacles back to the bridge of her nose.  
  
"You're both children compared to me, Severus Snape. And that young man is chained to someone that he doesn't love, as well as a son he truly does. It's quite rare that I ever see a real smile from him. But you put a light in his eyes. He loves you."  
  
"And you find nothing...strange about that?"  
  
"Should I?" Miss Burdock retorted. "I do my level best not to judge anybody. That's a task saved for the Good Lord in the last days, so far be it from me to try and undertake God's business."  
  
Severus just looked at her for a moment, and then he said simply, respectfully, "Thank you."  
  
At her quizzical look, he explained, "For reminding me of something I forgot that I already knew."  
  
"Any time." Her eyes, which had lit with a spark of conviction that made them very bright and remarkable, softened to their customary grandmotherly expression. "Do you love him?"  
  
"I believe you already know that, Miss Burdock." But Severus whispered anyway, "I always will."  
  
"You're young yet. There is always hope, where there is always love." Miss Burdock patted his arm. "Come back and see me again?"  
  
"Expect me next week, ma'am."  
  
The bell tolled it's silver cascade once more, and the Perk Up was quiet again.  
  
END  
  
  
*-*-*-*-*  
  
[1] Lucius is pronounced 'loo-shus'; Luc is said like 'Luke'  
[2] Ah, yes, suggestive selling mastery.  
[3] Yes, an arranged marriage will make anybody bitter. And no one's better at ridicule than Lucius Malfoy.  
[4] Siobhan Sofya Snape and Gabriel Renè Malcolm, Severus's sister and best friend, respectively.  
[5] Okay, okay, I made it up. Pronounce it, 'es-treh-lee-ah ser-ees'  
[6] God, Severus Snape as Spock. Sorry, that's the mental image I get when I read that line. 


End file.
